For Once in My Life
by alpacamysuitcase
Summary: It's 1967 and Velma Dinkley is the smartest incoming freshman at Coolsville High School. Stubborn by nature, she falls into a friendship with an unexpected group of students and together they take murder, mystery, and high school drama by storm.
1. August, 1967

Summary: It's 1967 and Velma Dinkley is the smartest incoming freshman at Coolsville High School. Stubborn by nature, she falls into a friendship with an unexpected group of students and together they take murder, mystery, and highschool drama by storm. Their free lifestyle flourishes in the heady atmosphere of 60s California, but 1970 brings with it a harsh dose of reality for the gang.

This is an AU story set in the general timeframe of _Scooby Doo! Where Are You?_ in which the characters are more affected by the world around them; e.g. War, politics, high school. I've made it so that Velma is a freshman and the rest of the gang are juniors; I've always pictured her as being younger than the others. It'll also most likely be told primarily from Velma's point of view though we will see plenty of action from all the members.

I myself am a Shelma shipper, but as this is my first story I'm going to try to keep passionate romance to a minimum and any character relationships will be subtle. The T rating is for safety and for any swear words and adult themes that may be necessary to the plot, which will be slow-moving as I bungle through my first ever fic.

Enjoy! Scooby Doo and the gang belong to Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros!

-alpacamysuitcase

* * *

"Velma, sweetie! Get up! You'll be late for school!" Mrs. Dinkley called as she gently rapped on her daughter's door. Velma was usually a light sleeper, but after a night of nervous studying and worrying over her first day of high school she had snoozed straight through her alarm.

Now, as she finally woke up, all she felt was panic over the possibility of being late. And on her first day! The thought did not sit well with Velma's straight-A student mentality and shocked her into rushing through her usual routine at double speed. She yelled a quick thank you to her mother, who was already back to puttering in the kitchen, as she combed though her thick bob of auburn hair and began to tug on her clothes, grateful that she had taken the time to lay them out the night before.

After only ten minutes Velma could be seen running down the block towards the bus stop clutching the bagged lunch her mother had packed and an almost comically large satchel of books. Half of them were not even required, but Velma never went anywhere without proper reading material to keep her mind occupied.

Reaching the bus stop with time to spare, the small girl began to tug her mussed clothes back into place. This late into August the weather in the L.A. suburb of Coolsville was scorching—too hot for her favorite chunky orange sweater. Instead Velma was clad in a large dark blue vest over a collared shirt and red pleated miniskirt, complete with dark blue knee socks and chunky white mary-janes. She could have been considered mod if not for her thick-framed glasses.

—

Velma gulped and slid a little further down her seat on the bus. Now that she no longer had to worry about being late she finally remembered what had kept he up so late and caused her to oversleep in the first place! From what she could gather from rumors floating around town, freshmen were forced through all sorts of hazing rituals by the upperclassmen. Silently she listened to the whispers of the other students on the bus.

"Last year they forced the freshmen to walk around with bananas in their shoes!" Gross.

"…and they'll make you drink milk in the cafeteria until you're sick…" Good thing she brought a bagged lunch.

"Harvey Stone from the baseball team said we could hide in the equipment room, no-one ever goes in there…" Velma rolled her eyes, that one was _obviously_ a trap!

"I heard the junior girls are particularly vicious this year—," Uh-oh, Velma was taking a few junior level courses that year, "—apparently Daphne Blake is their new leader!" Blake? Velma knew that name. She had gone to summer camp with a Daphne Blake and they had actually gotten along fairly well. Despite her glamorous appearance Daphne was a rather intelligent girl and Velma was confused as to why she would be leading an allegedly "vicious" pack of girls.

She didn't ponder long because soon the clunky yellow bus was pulling into the school parking lot. Velma steeled her resolve as she gazed out at the mass of students congregating on the front lawn. Many upperclassmen had already arrived to stake out spots from which to scope out the new students, those who hadn't were pulling up in cars and vans packed with kids who looked a little to eager for the first day of school. While other students found their friends and hung in protective groups to catch up summers flings and the latest gossip, Velma walked through the chaos alone. Having attended a catholic all girls school until 8th grade, she knew almost no-one at Coolsville High, a fact that did not bother her much. Velma was entirely too stubborn to let a silly thing like being friendless keep her down, and while she got to know her classmates she always had her books to keep her company.

—

After a school-wide assembly to welcome the incoming "Class of '71!", the student body flooded the halls in a wave of colorful linen and California tans. Velma found herself overwhelmed as she struggled through the throng towards the principal's office. She was supposed to meet with Principal Weathers to discuss her advanced schedule before class, but the auburn haired girl was instead growing incredibly frustrated by the group of mammoth football players standing in her way. Somehow she had gotten boxed in by the large teens as they joked and horsed around in the hall and failed to notice her attempts to move past them. Desperate, Velma rose as high on her tip-toes as she could and tried to make eye-contact with the leader of the group, Fred Jones, but was unable to catch his gaze to her satisfaction. Oh well, she thought, he was probably as doltish as his cronies anyway

"Come on idiots, we're going to be late to Dodson's class and I don't fancy being lectured this early in the morning." Or maybe not.

Though it had been in a roundabout way, Velma was convinced that Fred got the boys to move for her. She shot a thankful look to the blonde boy as she walked briskly through the now-clear path but he had already turned his back, not willing to further acknowledge a puny freshman like her. Running late, Velma was able to find the principal's office in minutes and was soon ushered through Principal Weathers' door with a stern look from the secretary.

"Ah! There you are Miss Dinkley! We were wondering what could have kept you so long," exclaimed Principal Weathers. At least Velma thought it was Principal Weathers who spoke. The amount of shiny silver and gold statues and plaques in the office was blinding, and the stunned girl blinked a few times before she could make out the other two figures in the room.

The speaker had indeed been Principal Weathers who was quick to motion her into a hard-backed chair in front of his large oak desk. To her left was an older looking girl wearing a sheer white blouse and flared purple trousers with a green scarf tied into familiar bright red hair.

"Since you are in so many advanced classes this year Miss. Dinkley, I thought it would be prudent to assign an upperclassmen with a similar schedule to help you adjust to our lovely campus and the demanding course load that high school requires," began Principal Weathers with a smile so wide Velma thought it might engulf his entire face, "Miss Velma Dinkley, may I introduce you to your guide this coming year, Coolsville High junior Miss Daphne Blake."

Ah, that's why her hair was so familiar. Velma turned to shake Daphne's hand in greeting and was taken aback at the unamused look in her blue-violet eyes. The up-and-coming queen of Coolsville High apparently did not appreciate playing "mentor" to a nerdy little freshman.

Velma smiled nervously as Daphne led her out of the office, the older girl's long legs unforgiving as Velma adopted a little skip-run to keep up with the fast pace. Well, she supposed, there was always the library.

* * *

Well there you go! I'll try to update this as often as I can, maybe once a week, as long as I keep getting ideas. Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated, and thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1,194


	2. October, 1967

Author's Note:

Hello again! Here's the second chapter of For Once in My Life, my Scooby Doo 60s AU.

Velma is definitely my favorite character so this story is almost entirely from her point of view, but other character's thoughts might leak into the 3rd person narrative every once in a while. Also, every few chapters or so there will be some sort of time skip, for example this chapter takes place a month after the events of the first, so don't be surprised if months or years are missing in the timeline.

The Scooby Gang are property of Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. Enjoy!

-alpacamysuitcase

* * *

October, 1967

"—so I was hoping we could get your opinion on the decorations for the homecoming ball next week? I understand though if you're busy with…other things…" Velma glanced up from her book, suddenly feeling eyes eyes on her. Alice May was looking over Daphne Blake's shoulder to where Velma was leaning against a locker with a book in her hands. When Daphne turned back to see why Alice May had trailed off Velma returned to her book with a shrug, but not before she noticed the look of surprise on Daphne's face.

Velma snorted quietly to herself. The redhead really should get used to having her around, it was already a month into the school year and she wan't planning on going anywhere. Even Daphne's friends had come to expect her following around the star of Coolsville like some bespectacled shadow.

"Oh no, I'm not busy at all!" Daphne laughed, but behind the smile Velma could tell that she was unnerved. To a certain extent she felt bad for the frazzled girl, but she reasoned away any guilt she felt over it. The nerdy girl had taken to following Daphne after the first week of school when she realized that the upperclassmen were too confused over Daphne's mentoring of Velma to dump any of her books in the toilet like they did to so many other freshmen.

It was now October and Velma was still at it, milking the odd pairing for all the bully confusion it was worth and counting down the days until the Seniors stopped bringing paddles to class. Sometimes Velma considered trying to befriend Daphne, or at least engage her in conversation, but she figured that such a beautiful girl would have no interest in a frumpy nerd like her. Speaking of friends, Daphne's were surprisingly nice, not at all like the vicious posse they had been rumored to be. At the very least they were polite enough not to comment on Velma's out of place presence in the group within earshot.

As Alice May walked away with a promise to go over homecoming preparations some other time Daphne clenched her hands in frustration. She had barely spoken to Velma beyond what was required to show her around the school, and now the girl was sticking to her like nerdy glue.

Huffing, Daphne confronted the smaller girl.

"What is your problem?"

"Sorry?" Velma barely looked up from her book, she was getting to a really good part.

"I _said_ , 'what is your problem?'" Daphne's voice was quiet, but it held an accusatory note, "You've been following me around like a stalker ever since the beginning of school! I know Principal Weathers said I was to help you adjust or whatever, but I'm not some babysitter! Don't you have friends to go and bother?"

Velma balked before a stubborn expression came over her face. She knew she wasn't very popular, and she was fine with that, but she certainly did't appreciate having it thrown in her face. Besides, why else would she hang around some junior who didn't even like her?

Daphne had apparently realized her mistake, as her eyes widened comically and her hand briefly covered her mouth in shock at what she had just said.

"Jeepers… Look, I'm sorry I let my temper get away from me but—"

"No," interrupted Velma, "I don't have anyone else to 'go bother'." She looked pensive for a moment, considering whether or not to tell Daphne the reason she stuck around, before continuing. "And I've been 'stalking' you because as long as I'm around you those senior goons will leave me alone." Velma ended her confession with a snap as she closed the book in her hands and headed off down the hallway.

Daphne followed, her long strides quickly eating up whatever head start Velma had gotten in her abrupt exit from the conversation.

"Wait. That's the reason?" She continued after a sharp nod from Velma, "If you want to avoid the hazing you need to find a group of friends to disappear into. Freshmen are safer in groups—," a well-placed glare from Velma cut her off. "Er, or you could hide in the library until December, worked for me."

Velma blinked.

"You spent your freshman year in the library?"

"The first part, yes," Daphne amended with a wry smile. "Surprising isn't it?" Velma gave a smile of her own in return. "To be honest, I'm surprised _you_ haven't been spending all your time in there. From the looks of that book bag you carry around you would be right at home."

Pausing in front of the door to their shared Advanced Chemistry class Velma looked down, suddenly fascinated by the buckles on her shoes.

"I thought I would be too," she muttered, "but I'm getting really tired of being alone."

Daphne stood in the hallway, hand on the door, after Velma had ducked into the classroom. She couldn't quite make out the the second half of the freshman's words, as they had been directed towards the floor, but Daphne suddenly felt a lot more guilty about her earlier annoyance over the bookish girl's presence.

* * *

Velma shifted the straps of her book bag higher onto her shoulders as she walked through the halls of Coolsville High. Several days had passed since the confrontation with Daphne and Velma was pleasantly surprised at the changes in their relationship that had resulted. She still read quietly near the redhead whenever the opportunity presented itself, but the silences, which had been awkward before, were now interspersed with idle chatter between the two girls and the occasional heated discussion over a book they had both read. Daphne, as it turned out, was herself an avid reader, though nowhere close to Velma.

Velma was even more surprised to find herself disappointed when she and Daphne weren't paired together for the term project in Advanced Chem. The bespectacled girl was instead paired with Fred Jones, the football player who had saved her (she thought) on the first day of school, who also happened to be one of Daphne's friends and rather intelligent in this own right.

 _"_ _I'm more of a physics person myself," he had told her as they discussed their initial ideas for the project, "you know, levers and pulleys and all that, but I think all of the sciences are worth studying."_ Velma laughed to herself at that conversation. Quarterback status aside, some of Fred's propositions involved an awful lot of levers and pulleys for a chemistry experiment.

Now that classes were over for the day she was hurrying to her locker, hoping to exchange her history for her chemistry textbook before she met Fred in the library. As she neared her locker, Velma noticed the lanky figure of a boy leaning against it. He was dressed in a pair of maroon corduroys and a fitted olive-green t-shirt, and he was very tall. Fred, who was just about 6 feet, would have only come up to the bridge of this boy's nose, though he was easily twice as wide. Velma approached the boy, who was eating (read: devouring) a sandwich out of a brown paper bag with Fred's name on it, and waited for him to notice her.

Velma was quick to abandon patience after the boy continued eating his sandwich, completely oblivious to her or the annoyed expression on her face.

"Excuse me, but that's my locker you're leaning against."

The tall upperclassman, there was no way he was a freshman with that height, finally looked up at the sound of Velma's voice. The motion shook his hair, fashionably long if a bit shaggy, into his wide eyes. At first he looked surprised to see another person in the hallway, but the expression soon morphed into a goofy grin that was oddly charming on his long face.

"Like, sorry little dude," Velma frowned at the moniker but the boy plowed on, not appearing to notice, "but I'm waiting for Velma Dinkley. Do you know where she would be?"

"That depends on who is looking." Velma returned as she sized the stranger up, wary. Could this be a bully waiting to dump her books in the trash? No, his face was too open for any maliciousness. He didn't look like a nerd either, to be interested in her intellect…so what could he possibly want?

"Oh right, yeah, I always forget about introductions. The name is Norville Rogers, but everyone calls me Shaggy. I'm a friend of Fred Jones." Velma took his offered hand with a nod.

"Velma Dinkley. What can I do for you, Norville Rogers?"

Shaggy's grin only widened at the discovery that she was who he had been looking for.

"I'm to let you know that Fred can't work on your project today, something about an emergency football meeting. He would have come to tell you himself but, like, the coach is super strict about attendance, especially since homecoming is this Friday. Anyway, I volunteered to take his place—," a pointed look from Velma had him hiding Fred's empty lunch behind him, "—or, well, I may have had some incentive…"

Velma sighed, she had been looking forward to working on the project with Fred, who was actually quite pleasant to be around behind all his football bluster. Adjusting her glasses, she figured that she might as well go to the library alone. Her mother wasn't expecting her for at least another hour anyway, and what was one more afternoon spent alone in the library? Shaggy must have picked up on her disappointment as she shuffled through her locker.

"Gee, uh, I know I'm no Fred Jones or anything, but would you like to come to the malt shop with me? I was going to grab a bite anyway, and I can give you a lift home after…?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck, uncomfortable as Velma scrutinized him.

The auburnette weighed her options. This Norville was basically a stranger despite his knowing Fred, and Velma knew that he was only offering because he felt bad for her, but a milkshake was a milkshake and maybe that was just what she needed right now.

"Oh why not. I could never say no to a vanilla malt."

* * *

Word Count: 1,710

Note: This chapter is a little longer than the last one, a trend that I think will continue as the story develops. I'll try to keep my updating consistent, but I don't have any grand plan for this story and write it as it comes, so if it takes me more than a week to update I apologize in advance.

In the 3rd person narrative I refer to Shaggy as Shaggy, but when Velma is directly referring to him (in her thoughts or otherwise) he'll go by Norville, mostly because I love that name and I don't think it gets enough use around here.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, I have no idea what I am doing.

-alpacamysuitcase


End file.
